21st Century Goguryeo

November 25, 2023, 09:00 (Republic of China time 08:00)

New Territory, Hong Kong Special District, Republic of China (National Intelligence Service Hong Kong Branch Safe House)

The agents of the Foreign Intelligence Agency 1, who arrived in Hong Kong on the CMV-100 Sky Bus at dawn, slept for a while in the safe house of the Hong Kong branch, and then gathered in the living room to have a brief meeting about their future missions.

"The mission instructions were changed at dawn. Therefore, I will ignore all the briefings on the Sky Bus and brief them again."

A while ago, Manager Lee Ja-sung came into the living room with a security document from the Foreign Intelligence Agency in Corea. The eyes of the agents sitting on the sofa, the floor, and the armrests of the sofa automatically turned to Manager Ja-sung.

"Criminal gangs in Hong Kong, which we were supposed to investigate as the top priority, will now be our second priority. We will instead investigate the intelligence agencies of all countries operating in Hong Kong. Give them the list, Deputy Oh."

Deputy Director Oh Seok-jin, who was standing by at the direction of Manager Ja-sung Lee, handed out a handful of documents to each team. "These documents are related to the intelligence organizations of all countries operating in Hong Kong, which have been investigated and compiled overnight by agents of division three of the Foreign Intelligence Agency."

"Woah! There are many. Hong Kong is such a great city that so many countries are flocking to it," team leader Park Gi-oong sighed and said while flipping through a few papers.

"Are we going to investigate all these organizations? We don't seem to have enough manpower," Team 2's team leader Yoon Tae-jin also cried after seeing the documents.

"Isn't that a lot? As Team Leader Yoon said, it would be difficult to investigate all the intelligence organizations in a situation where there is not enough time. That's why I would like to select only about 10 and conduct the initial investigation."

"What is the standard?" team leader Sung Sang-yoon, the youngest among the team leaders, raised his hand and asked a question.

"What is the standard?"

When Manager Ja-sung Lee answered with a question, Team 3's team leader Shin Eun-ha stabbed the core, "You said that they speak English and Mandarin, so they must be an English and a Chinese-speaking country."

"Yes. The new manager is correct. You may think it's simple, but when you think about it further, it's quite difficult."

Yoon Tae-jin, the second team's leader, thought deeply and listed the names of several countries, "If it's English-speaking and Mandarin-speaking, would it be like the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China, the Eastern Republic and New China, which were split into three countries?"

"Yes. In addition to those countries, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and everyone else must have heard it on the morning news. The war with Russia started around midnight yesterday, so Russia is included."

"Ah, Russians! Can't we live in peace? What were you thinking going to war with our country?" Team 2's team leader Yoon Tae-jin seemed to be angry at the word Russia, making all kinds of gestures.

"Leave the war to our armed forces and let us focus on our assigned missions!"

"Yes! All right," the team members responded in unison.

"First of all, we will start investigating the 10 countries listed so far. On the last page of the document handed out, the name of the country to be investigated by each team is written. Take note."

"Woah! America and Taiwan," Yoon Tae-jin, who checked the last page of the document, shook his head and exclaimed.

Then, Shin Eun-ha, the third team leader, checked the last one right away. "Our team is investigating England and the Eastern Republic."

"Huh? Why is our first team assigned three countries? Republic of China, Japan, Russia."

"Are you dissatisfied? Aren't we the spearheading team of division one? We get three countries because of our ability."

"Woah! We're only the spearhead team when this is the case, huh?"

"I assigned your team three countries, and that's that. Are you dissatisfied?"

"Ugh!"

Some of the team members giggled and laughed at the exchange.

"Order! Order! So much noise. I say it again, it's a battle with time. If we take too much time, the leaked confidential information cannot be recovered or destroyed. Do you understand?"

"All right."

"Great! You are dismissed! Pack your gear and go!"

When Manager Lee Ja-sung clapped his hands to announce the end of the meeting, Team 2's Assistant Manager Oh Hyuk-soo raised his hand and asked, "Aren't we eating breakfast?"

"Ask your team leader about that!"

"Oh, that sucks!"

As Assistant Manager Oh Hyuk-soo pouted and was about to get up, Team Leader Yoon Tae-jin pulled his ear and whispered from behind. "Is your mind filled with food only?"

"Ouch! So, don't you eat? Life is all about eating and living. If I don't eat breakfast and dinner, I won't work a day."

"Is that so? I haven't eaten breakfast since the army, so if I eat it, it won't be digested."

"Then I will eat a hamburger all by myself."

"What about me?"

"And me?"

"Me too!"

"Shut up. Oh, sir!"

"Do you all have a death wish? Anyway, no one likes me, whether it's a successor, a classmate, or a senior!"

* * *

November 25, 2023, 12:30

Funeral home of National Intelligence Service Safe House Hospital, Songpa-gu, Seoul, Namju

Despite the war with Russia, downtown Seoul was as peaceful as usual. The only difference was that fully-armed soldiers, organized as mobilization reserve forces, were located in various places on the streets, performing guard and patrol missions.

At the Songpa-gu Bokjeong Intersection, following Road 342 in the direction of Sanseong Station, the road leading to the left at the Changgok Intersection had more soldiers than anywhere else. Furthermore, they were special forces soldiers belonging to the third Airborne Special Forces Brigade, who had a white eagle mark and an airborne mark on their left chest, not a regular mobilization reserve force. As if all the troops of the brigade had been deployed, the two-person teams spread to border the long road, extending up to 500m in the rear. And on the road that bent toward Namsan, there was even a barricade and a precise search carried out on vehicles coming and going.

There was no special military installation here. However, there was a reason that all the troops of the brigade were mobilized and spread with strict vigilance. At the end of the road, there was a three-story building that was no different than a normal building. However, the inside of the building consisted of 10 underground floors and was the National Intelligence Service Safe House Hospital, equipped with various advanced medical facilities.

However, this was not the reason all the troops of the Airborne Special Forces Brigade were sent to guard the place. This morning, Professor Woo Jin-gil's body was placed in the safe house hospital and a funeral was being held at a temporary funeral home in the building. Currently, the plasma core technology leak was under strict security and media control. As a result, Professor Woo Jin-gil's funeral was not a normal funeral, but a secret funeral for security concerns. Naturally, mourners could not receive their condolences from the general public, and only researchers who were the first-class bodyguards who worked together at the Parthenon Research Institute could pay their respect. As such, the first-class bodyguards were outside the research institute and dozens of people gathered at once at the place, so there was no choice but to be very vigilant, even during a war.

The bodyguards who followed to protect the mourners also mourned together because they had a friendly relationship with one another at the institute. After the condolences, they continued their security activities around the funeral with a firm expression.

A woman who had just paid her respect to Professor Woo Jin-gil looked at Woo Eunseo and wept loudly. It was Dr. Park Jin-Woo, a teacher of the late Professor Jin-Gil Woo and his research companion on plasma technology. Dr. Park Jin-woo, who was also the first director of the Academy of Space Sciences, which was currently located in the Corea Space Science Center, immediately rushed to the funeral after hearing the news.

Dr. Park Jin-woo, who treated Woo Eunseo like her daughter since she was a child, was crying. Woo Eunseo also hugged Dr. Park Jinwoo and wept without stopping. Someone was watching this scene from the dining room door. It was Namgoong-won.

Woo Eunsoo had also been close friends with Namgoong-won for several years in the past at an underground research institute. She became an orphan quite suddenly, and while Namgoong-won was working as his researcher, the late Professor Woo Jin-gil was kind to him and was a father figure to him.

"Won, let's go in," Manager Lee Hye-jin wiped away her tears and said to Namgoong-won, who was tearing at the scene of Dr. Park Jin-woo and Woo Eunseo hugging each other and crying.

"Ah, right. Let's," Namgoong-won, who roughly wiped his tears with his sleeve, went into the ceremony with Manager Lee Hye-jin, who proceeded to burn an incense stick and bowed to the deceased. Namgoong won and Lee Hye-jin offered their condolences to Woo Eunseo's husband, Nam Min-cheol. He thanked them on behalf of his crying wife and they moved to a place where they could eat.

"He really treated Won like a son..."

"Yeah, he was a really nice guy. But is your leg ok? Do you want to go home and rest?"

Manager Lee Hye-jin was eventually discharged from the hospital as she was tired of the food. Thanks to advanced medical technology, her pierced thigh was recovering quickly, but it was still too fast for her to go out. However, Manager Lee Hye-jin was also acquainted with Professor Woo Jin-gil while serving as a security guard at the underground research lab for two years, so she insisted to come with Namgoong-won.

"It's okay, moving like this."

At this time, a group of mourners appeared at the entrance. Namgoongwon, who was also a researcher at the X-19 Plasma Lab, saw someone whom he was close to.

"Ah! Baby, I'll go and say hello to them. You just stay and eat here."

"Yeah, I got it. Go greet them!"

"Ok, thanks!" Namgoong-won approached and greeted the researchers who came out after paying their respect. "Hello, everyone."

"Ah! Senior Namgoong-won! It's been a really long time," Senior Researcher Kim Gyu-seok, who was the closest member to him, welcomed him warmly.

"Oh! Namgoong-won, it's been a while."

"Yes, Chief Oh, how have you been?"

"Good."

"Senior! When you were at the institute previously, why didn't you stop by and just left without saying hi?"

"Ah, sorry. At that time, I was not in the right mind."

"I was sad."

"Sorry."

"Okay. How is your married life these days?"

"Haha, it's good. It's nice that my pretty wife prepares breakfast every day."

"No way! Does the head of the National Intelligence Service have time to cook for you?"

"Oh my gosh, you got me."

"When you lie, it's all over your face. Is your wife here too?"

"Yes, she's eating over there."

"Oh, then, let's go over there and eat, too. I also want to see Hye-jin, the chief poet of Namgoong-won."

"Is that so?"

"Of course! Don't you want me to meet her?"

"Sure! It's nice to see all of you again. Let's go meet Hye-jin."

It had been a while since they had seen each other, so their sadness was forgotten for a while and they started exchanging stories. After some time, Manager Lee Hye-jin, who had not yet recovered fully, went home while Namgoong-won spent time greeting mourners from the underground laboratory, most of whom he knew. While he was chatting with the researchers in the other labs, three middle-aged gentlemen in neat black suits came rushing in. They were cadres belonging to the National Intelligence Service. Among them was Ahn Yeon-woo, director of the Counter-terrorism Bureau, Namgoong-won's favorite bureaucrat.

"Ah, chief! Hello."

"Huh? President Namgoong-won!"

"Ah! Why is everyone like that?"

"Hahaha. Oh, right. Say hello to Cheok Hyuk-jun, Director of the Cyber Security Bureau, and oh, do you know my friend, Director Yoon?"

"Sure. I know Director Yoon very well. How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine. What about you?"

"All good. By the way, this is the first time I've met Director Cheok Hyuk-jun. I thought I know everything about the NIS staff."

"Oh yes! It's the first time you meet. He was scouted from America."

Director Cheok Hyuk-jun was a Korean-American who was famous for security in the CIA (the Central Intelligence Agency). Shortly after Namgoong-won left the National Intelligence Service, he was scouted by the National Intelligence Service.

"Oh, I see. My name is Namgoong-won, who work with the Cyber Security Agency from time to time."

When Namgoong-won greeted him politely, Director Cheok Hyuk-jun responded with a bright smile. "I heard a lot about you. Weren't you once the best hacker in the NIS?"

"Haha. No, no. It's just a skill that's just good enough."

" Let's sit over there and talk."

As the number of mourners increased over time, the quiet funeral hall filled with people.